Why Italy

Why the american-chinese, japanese, mexican, italian, etc.. food taste really different...?

.... from the food of their original countries? American-Mexican food is weird, tacos are tostadas and even that, is prepared in an american way. Where are the original corn tortillas?, where are the spicy sauces?, Salsa pico de gallo with no chile!? American-Chinese food is almost all fried!..., in China they eat more vegetables, they eat duck, they eat raw eggs, and is not all fried. American-Italian food tastes like flour..., where are the spices and herbs!? Yes I know they all taste delicious, but when you eat their original versions, you get surprised how different they taste and even better!...

Public Comments

1. Most restaurants cater to what the locals like... also, they use what's available locally to substitute for the ingredients they had back home which may not be an exact match. I have some Italian coworkes, on-site from Italy for a few months, and their complaint about Italian-American food is the opposite of what you stated. They think we over-power the dishes with too much garlic and the herbs and spices where you lose the subtle flavors of the dish. Interesting how you see things differently.
2. There are two parts to this problem. The first is, the local condiments used in cooking, whether they be Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican or whatever, don't usually travel well. If you're accustomed to grabbing a handful of fresh herbs and tossing them into whatever you are cooking, drying those herbs so they can be shipped away, changes the taste. The other part of the equation is that when people come to a new land from their homeland, they try to 'fit in' by using local products and produce. Even if it isn't quite the same. And even if they aren't doing it to fit in, it is much more economical to learn to use Kraft cheese on a pizza than to send back to Italy and have genuine Italian Parmesan cheese flown out. And most immigrants can't, or couldn't afford that luxury. So their children grew up thinking the bastardized version of whatever they were eating was the real thing. That was the food of their childhood, that was what their palates craved. Of course, it gives us a real treat when, as tourists, we taste the real thing. Unless, of course, we've been brought up on the bland, American diet and find it all too spicy to consume....
3. Everyone has their own kind of tastes and their own way of cooking.
4. because it is from different countries and from different cultures.
5. I agree with you. I have lived in Japan and I know the difference between American Japanese and Japanese food. Real Japanese food is superb when compared to American Japanese food. That goes for all other cuisines as well. I have Mexican, Chinese, Korean friends and they all once said that Mexican, Chinese, Korean American food is not the same as it is in the original country. Oh well. Americans can enjoy the Americanized version of whatever they are eating, but just keep in mind that the original is much better.
6. It is adapted to what american mouths are used to. If they made authentic mexican food, it wouldn't be cost effective, and it wouldn't appeal to all americans. (cilantro, chile, etc). I am the first person to insist that chiles are the soul of all mexican cooking, but Ethnic cooking in America is meant to make MONEY, so they want to make it in some way that is appealing to the masses.